Hes Different Hes Not Like The Others - Tumblr Posts

for so long I was really against Will having powers because it felt sort of. unnecessary. to the story and to his character. because we’ve only ever seen “powers” displayed as something akin to a tool or a weapon. they’re something to wield

but that doesn’t make sense to me in the context of Will. like, he’s nonviolent by nature, more or less a total pacifist, to the point that even in that very first dnd session, he waffles between casting protection and casting fireball, only to cast fireball and… get “got” by the demogorgon. even in pretend, he doesn’t succeed at using a weapon

but when I began looking at it from the angle of “well maybe his powers aren’t the same as the ones we’ve been shown” it really opened it up a lot more for me. I talked about my winding incoherent thoughts on it in this post, but it’s just like

something about his character being so full of love despite everything he’s been through. continuously using his kindness even when cornered and scared. simply trying to face his fears and stand up for himself re: the Mind Flayer rather than trying to physically beat it back. and how the core of the solution to the conflict is not to fight violence with violence, but to see the violence as the pained, fearful lashing out that it is and meet it with only understanding and compassion…

and all of that just made me go “well wouldn't it be poetic if he didn’t have powers and simply beat vecna with the power of love?” but there is way too much evidence that points toward him having powers (looking at you @pinkeoni with this post)

so it’s like. okay. how do I contextualize all of these feelings inside the evidence that he does have powers? and it’s like. well of course! he doesn’t have powers, he is the power. it’s not something he wields, it’s something that is inherent to him and something he extends to others with open palms much like his love and kindness. i think it was even Robin again who said that his name is even Will, so he “wills” things into being and he “wills” love onto people. more like it's a desire, or a wish, than anything he directly points and controls